1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for processing electronic components, such as semi-conductor products. The invention also relates to an assembly of at least two of such apparatuses and a method for processing electronic components wherein the apparatus and the assembly can be used.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The processing of electronic components such as semi-conductor products, and in particular the encapsulation of such components, generally takes place using complex and accurate equipment which is consequently also expensive. It is of great importance for breakdowns and unproductive standstill to be prevented, while far-reaching automation of the processing is moreover desirable. Heretofore a plurality of processing stations have been rigidly coupled to each other for this purpose, wherein the electronic components for processing are carried with a more or less fixed routing along the processing stations. A drawback of this prior art is that the freedom of choice in respect of the routes to be followed is very limited. It is moreover difficult to harmonize the processing capacity of the different processing stations with each other.
The American U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,225 describes a method for producing printed circuit boards which takes place in a clean room. To this end the printed circuit boards for processing are carried in housings specially developed for this purpose, along which housings the printed circuit boards are displaced in transport containers. Use is made of robot arms to displace printed circuit boards between the transport containers and a processing station disposed in a separate housing.
The present invention has for its object to provide an apparatus and method with which electronic components can be encapsulated in more flexible manner and with which the capacity of the available processing stations is better utilized than according to the prior art. Another object is to provide an apparatus which can be integrated in simple manner into a larger whole of apparatuses.